British High Commissioner Alison Blake concludes visit to Sylhet

During her visit, she held meetings with senior government officials, business leaders and hosted a reception for a cross section of the local community.

Ms Alison Blake, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh concluded her two day visit to Sylhet today.

During her visit, she held meetings with senior government officials, business leaders and hosted a reception for a cross section of the local community.

Concluding her visit Ms Alison said:

“I was delighted my first tour outside Dhaka was to visit Sylhet. Many British people with Bangladeshi heritage can trace their origin to this great region. I am proud that this diaspora in the UK has been contributing to our economy, politics, culture and culinary industry over the years.”

“Many of the community people in Sylhet have close business and family ties with the UK. These people-to-people links play an important role in the strong relationship shared by the UK and Bangladesh. I am committed to strengthening the bilateral relationship and look forward to further developing our extensive cooperation.”

Note to editor:

Ms Alison joined the British Civil Service in 1989 and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1996. She served a number of Diplomatic posting at home and overseas. Her immediate past posting was in Islamabad as the Deputy British High Commissioner.

Ms Alison Blake is a native Londoner, with a keen interest in Ancient and Modern History, which she studied at Oxford University. After completing her BA in 1983, she worked as an archaeologist in London. Following that, Alison worked for an economic policy research think tank before entering the British Civil Service in 1989.